Zito: Two sides of the Bay

Interesting profile of Barry Zito by Pat Jordan in the New York Times outlining the differences between pitching in relative anonymity in Oakland and becoming a high-priced disappointment in San Francisco.

“I allowed the seriousness of things to creep into my mind. The city. The Contract. The fans. My new teammates. I wasn’t a blue-collar Oakland guy anymore. I was a white-collar guy on a white-collar team in a white-collar city.”

Zito also reprises the “Everybody’s so different, I haven’t changed” line from Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good to Me So Far.”

“If I wasn’t making so much money, the fans would show a little compassion,” Zito told me this summer. “But the money gives them no leeway to be sympathetic. When someone becomes successful or rich and famous, people perceive that person as being different. But I’m the same guy I’ve always been.”

He went on to tell of a former A’s teammate who cut short a visit and dissed him to mutual friends after Barry gave him a BlackBerry tour of his text messages with musicians and actors.

Got news for you, dude. If you want to keep the same friends after you’re making $126 million, YOU have to change, becoming more gracious so they don’t think you’re “stuffing it down their throat,” as the former teammate said.

Ray of hope: Just when you start to wish the A’s season gets put out of its misery, Josh Outman hits 95 mph with good command in his debut as a starter and four relievers are all effective. With all the pitching in the system right now, you’d have to think they can use some to get a bat or two.